Variants on a Lullaby
by Vilinye
Summary: Melody Pond had many lullabies during her life; everyone had their own expectations for the little girl. Three one-shot scenes based on YouTube videos. Features Amy, Kovarian, and Eleven.
1. Somewhere Free

Type in "Doctor Who Lullaby" on YouTube; it's the one called "The River Lullaby: Amy and Melody Pond." Also save the one "Madame Kovarian's Lullaby" for the next drabble.

* * *

Only two minutes. Only two minutes, and Madame Kovarian will snatch Melody from your arms, tearing her away from you and closing the lid on that white basket, so horribly like a casket. You press your hand against the white blanket, wrapping her tightly so she won't thrash against the padded walls. She's always quieter when swaddled, when her arms and legs can't be pinched and prodded with the Clerics' needles and scanners.

Madame Kovarian reaches for Melody. "Into the basket."

"I'll do it." Your voice barely wavers as you brush past the woman, stepping up to the basket. They say babies recognize their mothers' voice at birth, from the past nine months spent listening. But not this time, no. She quiets when you hold her, but she's still listening for something else, something you can't even imagine.

Your last words to your baby. Will Melody even remember you? You think of your friend Mels, Melody's namesake. When you asked about her mum, she couldn't meet your eyes. "I dream about her sometimes…kissing me…." And then she'd punch you in the shoulder or run off and never finish the story.

A kiss, a kiss goodbye. You bend over and kiss Melody on the forehead, breathing in her fresh, clean smell. It's not the time for lies, not the time for comforting words…that's your daughter in that basket, your little girl who Rory's never seen and you never got to show to the Doctor. Your Melody…."Leave her. Please, leave her…leave her!"


	2. A Dream so Pretty

Madame Kovarian stands by the white basket, staring down at Melody Pond. The real Melody Pond, not the ganger that Roman stole from her. She planned for every contingency, every possible outcome. One must plan ahead when facing a mighty warrior.

The child is screaming, wailing, from the shock of waking. She's twisted out of the blanket, thrashing against the padded walls._ Strong and angry,_ Kovarian notes with approval. An excellent beginning for an assassin.

The training has already begun; it began the moment they captured Amy. Prenatal testing and exposures to accelerate the Time Lord potential, to make her the perfect weapon. More is still to come–weapons training, mind direction, emotional manipulation, subconscious suggestion, and more. Mere hours after birth, she had undergone radiation treatments to enhance coordination and adrenaline production. A common surgery on 51st-century soldiers, if not on children. But Melody is not a child; she is a weapon, the only hope of victory against the Doctor

Weapons shouldn't cry. "Shut it up," Kovarian commands.

The Clerics stare at her. "We are soldiers, ma'am, not nursemaids."

"Must I explain everything?" She draws a syringe from the medi-kit. "Inject her with this. It should knock her out until we reach our destination."

"Why Earth?" One of them asks.

"You do not need to know." Kovarian injects Melody, pulling the syringe free and caressing the tiny scar. "Sleep, Melody," she whispers. "You have a grand destiny ahead."


	3. Come Morning Light

To 'Safe and Sound' from the Hunger Games soundtrack

* * *

He never found Melody Pond, but now he sees a second chance. This is River, but River so young she doesn't even know her name. For all her flaunting and flirting, she's scared. Scared of finally completing her task, scared of letting her parents know who she is…scared of him. He promised he'd find their daughter, he found River instead.

There has to be something of Melody left in River, more than just a scrambled name. If he had only found her sooner, things could be different. Amy and Rory wouldn't have to meet her like this; they could have all the time they needed to coax their daughter free. But one of the paradoxes of treating time as a commodity is that he never has enough of it.

She is killing him, but the Judas tree is only a symptom, not the cause. When Rory died the first time—died for real—Amy screamed at him, begging him to tell her it was going to be okay. He would have given anything to answer yes. Just as he would have given anything to answer in the affirmative about finding Melody, but he couldn't make it better. That hysterical grief, that horrible wail—he'd rather face that then this half-victory, this girl who wasn't really their daughter.

_I can't die yet. River needs me._ Berlin on the eve of war scares him less than letting his friends down. He staggers to the TARDIS console, ignoring the pain. Maybe he can still save River…maybe Melody isn't as lost as he thinks.


End file.
